A New Path: Silver Beams or Golden Rays
by kittygirl320
Summary: The deal to conceive has been made, they are filling in their part of the bargain, but a curse clouds their unborn babe's future. Pan can't lift it completely...how will Tom and Alice protect the County's and the world's salvation/their firstborn? Is there a foreign threat rising in the mist to help a certain Pendle witch's curse come to pass? Final instalment of A New Path.


**Author's Note: Excitement! The first part of this story before the line break is a sneak peek from 'It Takes Two for True Love'. I** _ **might**_ **be generous and post an update this week despite all the work I need to do. Don't worry, I will definitely finish that FanFic before the end of this year.  
The sneak peek is NOT about their wedding but another significant event. **

Alice stood nervously in front of the long mirror on the wall, standing on a round platform as Nessa and a couple of other girls Alice knew next to nothing about, but chosen by Pan, pinched at the heart-shaped bodice of her emerald-green ball gown. They pinched all over the back, tightening the bust, the waistline and in the middle. While one girl tied the thin golden laces at the back of the bodice, another girl fussed with the skirt. The skirt of the ball gown flared out at the pointy waist and, from the waistline, turned into silk. As these two girls worked on the dress, Nessa slipped the sleeves onto Alice's trembling arms and tied the thin golden laces underneath. Halfway down the top half of Alice's arms, the sleeves were made of the same material and covered in golden floral embroidery as the bodice. Nessa then fussed from half way up the top half of Alice's arms downwards. There, the sleeves flared out and became silk – which was probably why Nessa was fussing over them.  
When the three women were satisfied with the gown, they focused on the jewellery. One of the girls handed Nessa the necklace that would rest very close to Alice's neck. It was made of several emeralds and when on her neck would take the shape of a leaf. Nessa unclipped the necklace then put it around Alice's neck. From out of the corner of her eye, Alice could see the other girl polishing a pair of golden pointy shoes with a dark green buckle. She then walked up to Alice and gestured for her to lift her left foot. Being as Alice couldn't reach down because of her bulky gown, she obeyed and the girl slipped on the first pointy shoe. After slipping on the second, with Nessa's permission and after a nod towards Alice, the girl left the room. The second girl stayed to help Nessa with Alice's hair.

By the time they were done, Alice's hair was pinned up into princess curls in a half-up, half-down hairstyle. Spooks, witches, family, friends, loyal fighters and loyal supporters were all going to be there, gathering in Pendle to see this ceremony take place. It was apparently the first in ten centuries.  
Finally, Nessa looked up at Alice and said to her, "It's time to go."

* * *

The young woman, an earth witch named Alice, was laying sprawled on her back with her feet in the opposite direction of her husband's, Tom's. While one of her arms lazed next to her side, the other rested bent at the elbow, hand behind her head as she recalled this memory. It had been another…well, not deal, but promise…to Pan. Alice chuckled inside as she remembered how anxious she'd felt that morning. What a fool she'd been to worry, as it all started and ended smoothly.  
The spook, Tom, had the same hand as his beloved behind his head. But while her other arm drooped by her side, his hand on that arm was resting on his chest. They both sighed contentedly, Alice nestling her head even closer to Tom's.

In all honesty, Tom did get on well with Jenny, an apprentice of his, but sometimes it was nice just to spend some time alone with his beloved – especially now she was carrying a new life inside her. Especially now a curse had been cast upon them.  
Peaceful and harmonious though Chipenden was now, the same could not be said for the young couple's minds. Both worried about their baby, for neither could forget the echoing words Mab Mouldheel had bequeathed on the unborn babe. Her bright green eyes were more like green balls of flame in empty sockets as she hissed while emitting her rank breath of dried blood. That finger had pointed at Alice's belly accusingly and her voice seemed to split in two; one being her normal voice and the other sounding far more ancient and deeper. It was like she'd been possessed.  
Indeed she was: by hatred and revenge.  
She'd cursed, "I warn you, I can make your fears come true, _Alice Ward_ …and Tom. I can make your happiness short-lived."  
Once Alice had challenged her, unable to believe the witch, who was far less powerful than she, Mab just let out one big ugly, dark, disturbing laugh and had shaken her blonde-haired head. Alice then took it seriously when Mab pointed her finger at Alice's stomach.  
"The babe that shall be borne by both worlds, I sway now towards one world. The world I beseech to accept this offspring shall be…the abode of the damned!"  
As soon as she'd hexed, to the couple's astonishment, she'd given one last laugh that seemed to cause one big tremor through the ground before she disappeared in dark red smoke. Tom and Alice had got out just in time before the cottage built into a tree had collapsed.  
It was the last they saw of Mab Mouldheel – that's what worried them.

As the memory daunted Alice again, she gasped and looked up into the face of her beloved, who shared that same look, and nuzzled into his cheek, sobbing. He lifted his hand from his chest, up to stroke her cheek lovingly, whispering soothing words to calm her.  
"Still thinking about the curse?" Tom asked her gently.  
Alice nodded.  
He sighed. "I am too. But, Alice, Mab can't have meant it. Sure, she's a powerful scryer but her magic couldn't even come close to yours. You said yourself cursing can take a lot of power…"  
Alice lifted her face from his, tears in her eyes.  
"Know that, Tom, that's why I'm worried. Wouldn't be if I thought she didn't mean it, would I? Why do you think we ain't seen her, Tom? Killed herself when she cursed this baby, she did. Where she ain't as powerful with magic as she is with scrying, her body couldn't cope and she just turned to dust. Plagued with hatred, Tom, she was so she must've thought it was worth it – to lose her life in order to end our happiness."  
At her words, Tom was silent for quite some time. Alice did have a point, he knew. Mab would've done anything to make sure Tom would have happiness with no one but her. Now she'd have gone to the dark, she must've regretted losing her life just to cast a curse, but it was too late. The deed was done and now she'd not only cursed a baby, but emotionally wounded a spook's beloved. It also hurt Tom. He felt ready to start a family with his love and now, when the baby was born, he could be forced to kill it for the future of the County.  
But could he do it? Could he kill his own child for the sake of the County? Could he put his love life at stake to save the County?  
As if reading his mind, Alice reached up and took Tom's hand that was on her cheek in her own, all the while staring into his green eyes.  
"Tom…know you want to be a father, helped me feel ready to become a mother, you have, but if it must be done…I can't fault you for killing our baby if there are no means to avoid it. I love you so much, I couldn't leave you over it – couldn't leave you over anything. We can have more children and although the loss will hurt, know it's fate that brought us together to defend the County. I've had that feeling in my bones for a long time."  
Tom was shocked at what she was saying. She wouldn't fault him for killing their child? But he knew better than to think that. He could see it in those big brown eyes of hers, how hurt and crushed she would be to watch the baby she gave birth to die right in front of her – and at the hands of her baby's father at that.  
Still, there was something else.  
"Alice, Pan might not let me kill it if the curse does prevail. He was the one that told us to have a baby for the benefit of the County."  
"I still can't believe you found out and only told me you knew when I was falling asleep."  
"It's not my fault my wife has listening issues," Tom answered playfully.  
But Alice remained serious.  
"Wouldn't be surprised if Pan appeared and made you kill it, realising his mistake about the second deal."  
"Wouldn't this deal be your third?" Tom asked.  
Alice shook her head, facing the other way.  
"Fourth…" she sighed.  
Of course, how could Tom have forgotten? The deals Pan had made with Alice went like this: he first told Alice to leave Tom and go with Lukrasta; he then helped her become an earth witch instead of a heartless malevolent witch; then it was she had to marry Tom; then they had to conceive. Would Pan ever leave them alone?  
"Sorry, I forgot about that other one. Alice, whatever happens, just know that I love you and I only want what's best for you."  
Alice turned back to face him.  
"And I you, Tom, I just wish that us forming a family didn't have to be this complicated. What will Pan say? He must know about the curse by now."  
"That's why I think Mab can't have meant it. Surely Pan would've confronted us by now otherwise?"  
Alice smiled weakly but because of the positions they were in, he didn't see it as he was looking up at the sky.  
"Hmm…suppose you're right."  
Tom then looked at her and smiled warmly, sitting up. She sat up also and they leaned in for a kiss.  
When they separated, Tom got to his feet and offered his hand to help Alice up also. She accepted and when she was helped to her feet, the couple headed for the house, Tom's arm around his wife.

* * *

 _Alice groaned softly as soft golden light flooded into her eyelids through her thick black eyelashes. Her brown eyes fluttered open and looked up, smiling and chuckling. Her husband always had been a deep sleeper and seeing his dormant face in the morning was quite amusing.  
"I love you," Alice whispered as she leaned up and kissed his cheek.  
She then slipped out of his arms and slid out of the covers. Sitting up on the edge of the bed, Alice reached over for her nightdress that had been shed the night before – and that wasn't Alice's doing. Sliding the gown on over her head, she straightened out the bodice then tied the laces at the front, just below the point of the pentagon-shaped neckline. After tying the few laces in a bow, Alice got to her feet and headed for the door. Fortunately, the door opened with a gentle creak and, halfway out of the room, Alice glanced back at her husband, who was still sound asleep, and smiled.  
She ran through her long white hair with her fingers as she walked down the stairs, tip-toeing down as she passed Jenny's room. Tom's apprentice might fall asleep as easily as him and snore just as much, but she wasn't as much a heavy sleeper as Tom was._

 _It was a Sunday, the pet hairy boggart's day off, so Alice was to make the breakfast. Every Sunday she made Tom's favourite and this morning was indifferent to those other mornings._  
 _Alice was about to get cracking on the eggs when she felt a sharp pain in her abdomen, travelling a little lower and it felt like her insides were being knotted together. It was the same feeling as when her menstruation was really bad and she vomited for the first couple of mornings and evenings. But she'd not long stopped so why was she getting this feeling again? Her thighs weren't aching as they usually did so maybe it was a stomach bug. Either way, Alice rushed outside and retched several times._  
 _As she vomited a third time, she felt someone behind her hold her hair with one hand while their other hand rubbed her back tenderly in reassurance. Four more times and when she stopped, Alice turned her head and smiled feebly as she found her husband beside her. She sat back and rested her head on his chest. He put his arms around her and kissed the top of her head lovingly._  
 _"Maybe you should go back to bed, honey," Tom said._  
 _Alice was about to nod when she remembered…_  
 _"Oh, but, Tom, the breakfast…"_  
 _Just then Jenny came outside, handed Alice some water and said as she drank it, "I'll finish the breakfast, Alice. Tom's right, you need to go back to bed."_  
 _Had Tom not said it beforehand, Alice would have fumed about being told what to do. But her husband was right and she did feel too frail to stand._  
 _When she nodded faintly, Tom got up and carried her under her arms and knees up to their room, leaving Jenny downstairs to finish the breakfast Alice had started._

 _The bedsheets drawn back, Tom gently laid his wife down on the bed and brought the bedsheets up to her chest. She'd given it some thought and knew it was a possibility. As Tom spoke, Alice bit her lip.  
"Try not to leave the bed too much today, Alice. I do have to go out on spook's business in a while but I will be back as soon as I can," he told her, stroking her hair back from her forehead.  
Before he could turn to leave, Alice told him, "Tom…I…I think I might be…w-with child…The timing makes sense."  
Tom's green eyes widened in shock.  
"Are you sure you're not saying that to get out of-"  
Alice shook her head.  
"No, Tom, of course not! Wouldn't lie to you about something as important as this, would I?"  
Tom sighed.  
"I know you wouldn't, love."  
Alice then just had a sudden outburst, sat up and threw her arms around Tom's neck, sobbing.  
"…I-I'm scared, Tom…terrified…but for reasons I can't tell you."  
"My darling, I know you made another deal with Pan…about us having a baby for the benefit of the world."  
She lifted her head to look up at him, staring in shock.  
"When did you…"  
"I heard down in the kitchen that night. How could I not? I knew it was Pan down there anyway. What business would he have here unless he was looking to make another deal?"  
"Why didn't you tell me?"  
"I did but you were falling asleep when I said so…when you came back upstairs."  
"I'm sorry, Tom. Want to have children with you, I do, but not like this and it's just…so sudden…What if I ain't ready?" she sobbed, resting her head on his shoulder with her arms still around his neck.  
"No one ever is ready for their first, Alice, we'll learn together."  
Alice lifted her head from Tom's shoulder, teary eyes as she asked, "What if Pan…"  
It was then that Pan suddenly appeared in their room and, although he didn't have them with him, the sound of musical pipes filled the air… _

* * *

Alice awoke in a cold sweat, remembering that time and sniffling. Now the morning she found out she was pregnant seemed like paradise compared to now, where a curse was put on her baby she'd yet to meet.  
The earth witch turned and looked up at her husband, though it wasn't as blissful as it was that morning. Ever since getting pregnant, Alice spent most of the morning vomiting then the afternoon asleep. Whenever Jenny went to get the provisions, Tom would lay with Alice until his apprentice got back. The weekly provisions were usually collected in the morning, but Alice's pregnancy had postponed it to the afternoon. That's what Alice hated about it. She hated that everyone's time had to evolve around her – she never was one for the centre of attention. To see Tom's face so close to hers when she woke up with his chin on her shoulder, it, in a weird way, comforted her somewhat. She smiled a little to see that he, too, was asleep.

But she couldn't let her husband sleep. She had to tell him about this because, for once, she despised the idea of going through with this alone; Alice had to know that Tom would be on her side no matter what. So, she kissed his cheek, her lips lingering over the spot for a couple of seconds, before he began to stir. When his green eyes glittered in the soft golden rays, his hand grasped his wife's again.  
"Is Jenny back yet?" he asked sleepily.  
Alice giggled. She couldn't help it, as much as she loved him, her husband never was bright and alert when he first woke up. It was a wonder how he remembered where he was after a long night's sleep, if she was being honest.  
"No, Tom, I just…want to tell you something," she admitted in almost a whisper.  
Tom nodded slowly, almost in uncertainty, as he lifted his chin from her shoulder so she could turn her body round to face his.  
When she propped herself up on her elbow, with a look in her husband's eyes to urge her on, Alice continued, "I've been thinking. Don't want to raise our baby for it to turn against us, do I? Don't really want to watch it get killed either and I don't want to put you in that position. So…"  
Tom's eyes widened.  
"You…you're not getting rid of it, are you?"  
"What? No, no, Tom, I couldn't. Still feels like murder, that. What I've been thinking is maybe we could talk to Pan again…"  
He looked appalled and shook his head.  
"No, Alice, we are _not_ doing that! Look at the mess he's already put us in: separated us, forced us to marry, forced us to conceive and now you want to talk to him again? Please tell me you don't mean that…"  
A look of hurt spread across Alice's eyes – only to easily be replaced by anger.  
"Forced us to marry, Tom? You mean you didn't actually want to get married?" she asked hazardously calm.  
One wrong word, Tom knew she would snap.  
"No, no, honey, you know that's not what I…"  
"…I just wish you'd told me earlier you never wanted to get married…might've saved me the heartbreak."  
Her words were heated, but her eyes said otherwise. They had a more vulnerable gaze to them as she sat up and swung her legs round the edge of the bed, facing away from Tom. With a heaving sigh, she got to her feet and walked over to the window with her arms crossed, tears cascading down her cheeks.  
"Alice," Tom began as he, too, got to his feet. "Please listen. I didn't mean it like…"  
As his hand reached out for her shoulder, Alice spun round sharply. Her eyes were glazed over but she also had a determined expression on her face as a whole.  
"Don't, Tom. Just _don't_ …Just…don't even speak to me…"  
With that, she ran out of the room. He could hear her sobs and he sat back on the bed, hunched over and ran his hand through his hair, choking up one great big sigh. If this was hormones, he knew there was worse to come and would have to learn how to deal with it. Of course it was hormones, the real Alice he knew would never run out like that. She'd stay until the bitter end. This wasn't going to spur her to leave…was it?

* * *

The last light of day was failing behind the rolling hills. Shadows beneath trees stretched across the land and the wind hissed through the noon air. Tom eventually found his wife by a nearby river, knelt beside it with her face buried in her hands. He slowly approached her, as quietly as he could, for fear of her running away from him again. He knelt down beside her and laid both hands gently on her shoulders.  
"Alice?"  
Her sobbing ceased but her shoulders continued to tremble as she gradually lifted her head and lowered her hands into her lap.  
He took a deep breath.  
"Listen, about earlier…I didn't mean it like that. Ever since I first saw you in Lukrasta's arms, I wanted to marry you. What I meant was that…Pan had decided when we should marry and we didn't get the chance to decide for ourselves. I never meant it as in I regret…"  
"I-I know, Tom, I shouldn't have ran out like that. I don't usually but ever since…"  
"I know, I'm not upset about that. I was just worried that you'd leave over it."  
"Over one fight?" asked Alice, smirking, an eyebrow raised bemusedly as she turned her head slightly.  
"Well, no…" Tom could feel his cheeks burning with embarrassment. It all seemed ridiculous now.  
Without warning, Alice turned herself around completely and flung herself into Tom's arms. He was shocked at first but then tightened his arms around her, resting his chin in her hair after kissing the top of her head lightly.  
"Ain't just the baby, Tom, also that I don't…w-want our baby to be cursed to stumble into the dark. Want to raise it, Tom…I do!"  
"It's all right, Alice, everything will be fine. About earlier…what were you going to ask Pan?" His heart jumped at the thought but he had to know.  
"J-just to try and lift the curse. If it would come at too high a price, then there wasn't going to be a deal."  
"Well…if that's all you were going to ask, then…all right, you can." It took all his effort and strength to agree but their choices were wearing thinner as the day of the birth drew closer.  
Alice lifted her head from his chest and wiped a solitary tear away with her finger as she smiled, almost shyly, up at her husband.  
"Glad you agree, Tom…'cos I already spoke to him…he's lifted the curse…slightly."  
"Then why were you still crying? Wait a minute…you spoke to him anyway?"  
"Still crying 'cos of what he said. The curse was lifted, but now it can go either way depending on the birth…if our baby is born under the rays of the sun or the beams of the moon, then it will be destined to aid the light. However, if the beams or the rays are blocked for any reason, then the baby will be destined for the dark. How can we ensure the latter don't happen, Tom? How?" she asked desperately, avoiding his last question.  
His green-eyed gaze softened and he smiled as reassuringly as he could, despite knowing his wife could see right through him.  
"I don't know…but all we can do for now is hope and worry more at the time."  
Alice swallowed and nodded, putting on a brave smile.  
With that, Tom got to his feet before helping Alice up. They walked back to the house silently, hand in hand, Alice's head resting on her husband's shoulder. There were unspoken, worried words between them but neither dared utter them. As Tom had said, it was better to leave it for now and just focus on ensuring a safe birth for both Alice's and the baby's sake.

* * *

The pregnancy had gone rather smoothly and the couple had done as Tom had suggested to his beloved. They didn't worry about how to ensure the baby's destiny wasn't certain doom – that was what caused that event on the night of the birth.

Tom was out somewhere in the County dealing with an entity unknown to him: a new threat known as the Praedonum, Latin for pirates, and it was the plural for Pirata. Contrary to what both Tom and Jenny first thought, these were no ordinary pirates who had come ashore to loot the docks. These were a supernatural group of marine bandits who'd been given specific instructions by an anonymous mastermind behind the plot to stop the light gaining more aid and instead, allow the dark to gain another servant.  
Their aims were something the spook and his apprentice learnt to their cost when this threat foreign to all spook knowledge unleashed the entities – one that Tom's old master had seen years ago along the edge of Crow Wood.

While they were stuck on how to deal with this threat, Alice was at home on hers and Tom's bed. Her legs were apart and all the curtains had been drawn back to allow as much silver light in as possible. She was heaving pants and moans of pain, writhing as she clutched the covers either side of her head. Beads of sweat rained down her fiery flesh along with tears and loose strands of white hair stuck to her forehead. The midwife and her daughter tried to calm her, but there was little to assure the poor girl about. Fearing for his wife and their unborn child, Tom had thoroughly informed the pair of the situation and both his and Alice's backgrounds. Without further explanation, he'd also told them to let as much light in as possible; the couple had been told that the baby's future depended on it.  
Tom had left the two women baffled by his parting words and now here his wife was: in torturous agony, giving birth to a child borne by two sinisterly powerful backgrounds. Neither were trained for this – and they had delivered children of spooks before. This was beyond their knowledge…but there was a first time for everything, even among the most exclusive of the elite.  
Constantly, the daughter was dabbing a saturated cloth on the mother's forehead while the midwife kept a close eye on the most important part. Alice desperately wanted to know how far her baby was from being born, but the midwife refused to relent and just encouraged her to keep pushing. Alice asked for Tom continually, despite knowing that her husband was out on inevitable spook's business. She knew this would happen, as yet she'd allowed herself to get her hopes up and believe he'd be there by her side to support her.  
"I-I need Tom!" she complained for the fiftieth time that night.  
"Mrs Ward, you mustn't waste your breath on such words. Focus, it shouldn't be long now until you meet your little one," the midwife tried to reassure her. Although, as another big scream was released from Alice's lips, the midwife was uncertain herself. Where was that bloody spook? His wife needed him most right now!

It was an hour before midnight when he came back. Tom could hear his wife's screams upstairs and his heart jumped into his mouth. Leaving his cloak and weapons by the stairs, he dashed up to his room, leaving Jenny gawping at her master's behaviour as she too took of her cloak and removed her weapons. She followed in her master's steps as she also climbed the stairs – although not in as much a hurry as he had.  
Tom flung the door open and hurried to his Alice's side and took her hand, kissing it tenderly. When Jenny reached the doorway, the door nearly flung into her face because of the force Tom had opened it with. She glared at her master momentarily as she entered the room. But, as soon as she did, the midwife saw her and shooed her back out, bolting the door shut after telling Jenny she had to wait outside.  
Then, the midwife brought her attention back to the mother.  
"Alice, honey, are you all right?" Tom asked her.  
"…Oh, yeah…fucking fantastic, ain't I?"  
The daughter rolled her eyes at the father's stupidity. Why were all the fathers she and her mother dealt with always asking such things when the answer was clearly right in front of them?

Suddenly, Tom remembered something Alice had told him about when she and Pan had last spoken. The child would be born at either midnight or midday, regardless if there was light or not. Well, there was only three quarters of an hour left, judging by the position of the mystical moon and so Tom kissed his wife's forehead, assuring her it would be over soon.

There was literally five more minutes left. Five more minutes until the baby was born when it happened. A cluster of shadows darkened the room and all of the candles blew out. The room plunged into darkness, this new additional wind forced all the windows closed.  
Alice, after another scream, gasped and looked up at her husband.  
"T-Tom…"  
He had the same thoughts and remembered those entities the Praedonum unleashed into the dark skies. The cack-handed arseholes! They'd only released those small entities to cover the moon to stop the 'new fledgling' as they'd called it from being born into the light!  
After staring out at the window for a moment, Tom shook himself and smiled down at Alice, wiping a tear from her cheek with his thumb.  
"Everything's going to be fine. I'm sure it's just the clouds…they'll pass over in a minute. Just keep breathing, you're going to be all right, Alice…excuse me…"  
Tom got up from the chair he'd pulled up and walked towards the midwife. He whispered, "Whatever you do, don't let my wife know what's really happening…no matter what you see."  
With that, he unbolted the door and left the room to find Jenny slumped in a chair beside the door. He shook her awake and when she shook her head to wake herself up, she looked up at her master confusedly.  
"Jenny, your guess was right about the Praedonum."  
Jenny raised an eyebrow.  
"Which guess would this be?"  
"Jenny," he snapped, "We haven't got time here…those denizens are already blocking the moon…we have to stop them…before it's too late!"  
Jenny leapt to her feet.  
"How long have we got?"  
"A few minutes now…thanks to you. We did have five."  
"One minute difference!" Jenny retorted.  
One glare from Tom, if looks could kill, and Jenny immediately nodded and they rushed downstairs and put on their cloaks. As they were about to ready the weapons they thought they were going to need, there came a low growl.  
"Kratch!" Jenny gasped.  
He appeared in his large ginger tom cat form and sat on the stairs so his head was roughly level with Jenny's.  
"Allow me. I haven't had the delight of a chase in a long time. Let me deal with those rodents," he purred.  
After giving it some thought, Tom nodded and the hairy boggart disappeared. After a few seconds, he and Jenny still left the house to see what was happening.

At first, the gathered group of winged rodents continued to block out the moonlight's majestic aura. But then there came a growl Tom hadn't heard before…from any cat. It was like a hiss, a growl and a purr all in one. Both the spook and his apprentice thought they saw two paws reach up towards the centre of the group and instantly, the spiralling winged rats started to part. Something seized several of them at once, threw them around like they were plaything then tossed them aside. They crashed down near the two on the ground and Tom and Jenny saw that all of them had one bloody wing and one missing wing each. Most were blinded and some had one set of fangs, when they used to have two sets, missing. One winged rodent had one ear bitten off and another had both bitten off. Their tails with a tuft of pointed hair at the tip looked untouched – with the exception of phloem.  
Jenny turned away from Tom and gagged at the revolting sight and the smell of dead rat. Some had their wings twitching as well!  
Tom shook his head; all his apprentice had dealt with and she still retched at the sight of blood. Then, snapping him out of his thoughts, Tom and Jenny caught sight of countless winged rodents plummeting to the ground.

Finally, it looked like they were retreating away from the moon. The same paws Tom had seen just minutes earlier came towards him and Jenny. His heart was in his mouth. Could the boggart have finally turned on him?  
Surprisingly, the view of a ginger tom cat jumping down took shape and the cat landed in front of Tom and Jenny.  
He simply told them, "My work here is done," and disappeared.  
Jenny urgently tapped her master's arm.  
"What?" he demanded in irritation, glaring down at his apprentice.  
She pointed up at the moon and he followed her left index finger: the full moon was at its highest peak. This could only mean one thing.  
Midnight!  
Faster than the eye could see, Tom abandoned Jenny outside and darted back up the stairs to the master bedroom. He hoped Kratch hadn't been too late. The muffled sounds within the room, as he came to the closed door, told him otherwise. He gulped, eyes glittering at the thought of failing the love of his life, the County, himself, the family he and Alice dreamed of having…and the world. So much fate had been resting on his shoulders and, although the burden was no longer there, a new burden had come and taken more weight onto his shoulders than before. They felt heavier than they ever had.  
With a heavy heart, Tom slowly opened the door, heart sinking when the sobs ceased. He slowly opened the door and peaked through. However, the sight that greeted him both overwhelmed and overjoyed him.

There his wife was, now under the covers. She was sweating, yes, but she'd never looked more radiant. Tears welled in her eyes as she smiled down at the tiny bundle in her arms. The daughter was getting to her feet when Tom entered the room. All eyes, now warm, rested on him.  
After paying the midwife who then left without a backward glance, Tom made his way over to his love and his newborn babe. He knelt down by his wife's bedside and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She smiled at him and they leaned in to kiss.  
"Well done, love," he whispered, their gazes settling on their child.  
Tom hadn't realised the midwife's daughter was still standing there until she spoke up.  
"What are you's gonna name him?"  
Him? Tom had a son?  
After kissing her baby's forehead, Alice looked up at her husband with a smile, who nodded.  
"Alekos…we're going to call him Alekos."  
It was a Greek name, a short form of Alexandros which meant "defending men". It was a perfect name for their new precious bundle of joy.  
"Alekos John Ward," Tom agreed proudly. His middle name was both after his grandpa and his daddy's master. Tom would tell his son the story someday.  
He adored his son already. It wasn't just that indescribable feeling that can only be felt, not told. It was also the fact that although Alekos's features were exactly the same shape as Tom's when he was a babe in arms, he had his mother's vivacious big brown eyes and, already, a tuft of curly black hair nested on his head. Tom's thumb caressed his pudgy cheek. Already, the child seemed to know his parents and was staring at them in wonder, almost.  
"Alekos John Ward…a nice name, that. A good night t'ya, Mr and Missus Ward."  
With that, the daughter left the room.

"Oh, Tom, he's gorgeous," Alice said quietly with a sniffle.  
Tom got up and sat next to his wife on the bed. He slid his arm around her shoulders and kissed her head.  
Breaking the moment, Alekos started to cry and Alice sighed.  
"Just been fed…so greedy, he is." She looked at Tom through her long thick black eyelashes with a sly smirk. "…Just like his daddy."  
Tom pretended to look hurt.  
"Oh, come on, love, you don't mean that…"  
"Lie then and tell me you're not like that in bed."  
"Well, I…that's not fair!" he almost relented, an indignant tone in his voice.  
Alice shook her head with the roll of her eyes before she turned her attention to their son. Fortunately, she hadn't laced the top of the bodice of her nightdress back up again from when the midwife showed her how to feed him and so she tugged the sleeve of her nightdress down. That done, she allowed her baby boy to suckle.  
Alekos tugged on his mother's nipple abruptly and she cried out. Her eyes flicked downwards.  
"Hope he gets out of that habit soon, Tom."  
Tom merely shrugged.  
"Maybe not. Apparently, according to my family at the farm, I was the same." His eyes then glinted with a spark of passion Alice missed since she was too occupied keeping an eye on her already-sly son. "…Although…I am a little envious of him right now…" he admitted as his raked his tongue along her ear seductively.  
Alice giggled softly for a moment before she gently pushed him with her hand.  
"Oh, stop…Jenny's going to be barging in any minute, I just know she will."  
No sooner was that said than, as Tom pulled back, Jenny did indeed barge into the room and stride over to the bed.  
"Aww…he's so tiny. What did you decide to call him?" Jenny asked all at once, already loving the tiny infant as she played with his plump little hand.  
"Alekos John Ward is his full name," Alice replied.  
Finally, Alekos gave one big yawn and nestled into the warmth of his mother's chest.  
"Wow…that was quick," Tom remarked in a whisper.  
"HmMmhm…think I'll join him. Tom, could you…"  
"Of course, love." Tom gently picked the boy up from his mother's arms, turned and carried him over to the cradle situated by the wall on Alice's side of the bed.  
As he laid his son in the cradle, Tom stroked his head, leaned down and pecked his son's forehead.  
"Sleep well, son."  
Tom then turned to face his apprentice and laid his hand on her shoulder, guiding her out of the room so Alice could get some rest.  
"You were never like this with your nephew back at Jack's farm," Jenny whispered to him with a bemused look on her face.  
"I wasn't like it with Mary either because I was cautious of them. But now I'm older, I'm not so worried about dropping a baby," he admitted.  
Jenny sniggered as she left the room. Tom closed the door, shaking his head at his apprentice's response before he walked back over to the bed and kissed his dormant wife's head.  
"Sweet dreams, my darling."

* * *

Ten years flew by and every moment passed too quickly. Surprisingly, Alekos's hair, although it remained in curly tufts, had lightened. It started off as black in his infant years, but it was now a platinum blonde. He inherited the shape of his features from his father, but his eye and hair colour definitely belonged to his mother. She knew that someday, maybe in about five years' time, her son's hair would only grow lighter until it became a shade of white.  
Alice was expecting again and this time used a mirror to find out the gender. That morning, Alekos had peeped through the door left ajar and watched the mirror. He was going to have a baby sister…he was thrilled! He already had a name in mind that he could run past his parents: Lucia.

On this same morning that he found out his mam was going to have a girl, Alekos received a strange visitor. His mother was washing the plates, his dad down by the withy trees and his Auntie Jenny was down in the village collecting the weekly provisions. As for Alekos himself, he was climbing trees in the western garden – something his mam didn't favour because she was the one who had to wash his dirtied clothes afterwards.  
Suddenly, strange unseen music filled the autumn air and the winds died down. All was still and the curious little boy jumped down, doing a flip before he landed. He heard a rustle by the bench where him and his dad often sat and talked about 'spook's business' as his dad called it.  
Alekos approached the bench to find a peculiar being sat cross-legged in front of it, playing some musical pipes. At first, the boy thought it was a man sitting there. But then his eyes trailed lower to find that instead of human legs, there was the bottom half of a goat. On the top of his head was a pair of horns. This strange being stopped playing his pipes as Alekos drew closer. He turned his head and smiled up at the boy.  
"Hello…little boy. Who might you be?"  
At first, Alekos was lost for words. He'd never seen something like this before and only in a split second remembered his manners.  
"I'm Alekos…Alekos John Ward."  
That acquainted smile quickly turned up into a grin splitting from pointy ear to pointy ear on the being's face.  
"Ward…so you are the son of the Chipenden Spook, Tom Ward, and the earth witch, Alice Ward…"  
Alekos nodded uncertainly. His parents had never been talked about in a manner that suggested friendship or respect before.  
"Who are you, sir?" Alekos asked shyly, his mouth running dry.  
"Why, my dear boy, I am Pan, old god of nature. Did your parents never tell you about me? I am the very reason you were born so they ought to."  
Alekos shook his head.  
"Mam won't hear of dad talking about spook's business or anything supernatural in front of me. So dad brings me to this very bench right here to tell me about it," Alekos replied proudly, tapping the bench for emphasis.  
Pan shook his head in grave disappointment. His eyes then filled with a look Alekos couldn't quite place.  
"Is your mother here?"  
The boy nodded.  
"She's inside. Dad's down by the withy trees because someone's summoned him. He'll be back any minute though if you needed to talk to him as well. Are you a friend of my parents'?"  
"I suppose you could call us that. May I speak to your mother, Master Ward?" Pan asked.  
Alekos nodded. Well, if he was a friend, then it was all right, wasn't it? Pan seemed nice enough. So, he led the old god towards the house.

Meanwhile, Pan was feeling disappointment and frustration. The Ward couple had failed to keep their promise. How on Earth was their son supposed to defend the light if his parents seldom shared their encounters with dark denizens in the past? Just telling their son about little piddle-paddles with ghosts, boggarts and the weaker witches wasn't good enough. But after his visit today, Pan could guarantee that the Wards knew _exactly_ what to teach and share with their son – the future generation!

 **A big thanks to GoldenWhiteRose for helping me pick Tom and Alice's son's name. I turned it Greek instead of sticking with Alexander because Tom's Mam was from Greece and, to Tom, they had a rather strong bond. Of course he'd want to honour her memory!  
As said before, I will definitely try and update It Takes Two for True Love this week, I promise. If you want me to do a FanFic based around Alekos and his adventures, please leave a review or PM me. **


End file.
